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president obama has put house speaker john boehner and republicans in a box on fiscal cliff negotiations. and the evidence is mounting. president obama stayed on offense today, visiting the santana family in northern virginia whose taxes will go up more than $4,000 in 2013 if middle class tax cuts aren't extended. >> i'm encouraged to see that there's been some discussion on the part of republicans acknowledging the need for additional revenue. as i've indicated, the only way to get the kind of revenue for a balanced deficit reduction plan is to make sure that we're also modestly increasing rates for people who can afford it. folks like me. just to be clear, i'm not going to sign any package that somehow prevents the top rate from going up for folks at the top 2%. >> the concerted effort from the white house is very clear. here's white house press secretary jay carney. >> what will produce a deal is an acknowledgement by republicans, republican leaders, that rates on the top 2%, the wealthiest americans, have to rise. there is no deal without that acknowledgement, and without a concrete,
president obama has put house speaker john boehner and republicans in a box on fiscal cliff negotiations. and the evidence is mounting. president obama stayed on offense today, visiting the santana family in northern virginia whose taxes will go up more than $4,000 in 2013 if middle class tax cuts aren't extended. >> i'm encouraged to see that there's been some discussion on the part of republicans acknowledging the need for additional revenue. as i've indicated, the only way to get the...
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over the fiscal cliff negotiations one thing has become crystal clear. the schisms are becoming more and more pronounce. there are three distinct groups, theological warriors who want to impose their views on the country. tee party zealots and remnant of the pro business moderates while their fiscal views are the last reasonable voice in the republican party. it's this last group who are willing to compromise and combine their ideologies with governing. it is this group bit by bit who are peeling away the extreme views of the rest of the party. the most important question remains are there enough of them to make a deal and reign in the g.o.p. circus. joining me now charles pierce, writer to esquire and author and host of ring of fire and majority report sam seder. do you feel sorry for john boehner who has all these circus folks with him? >> i don't. >> eliot: shocking to me. >> look, he has--he's trying to maintain his caucus, and you know, at the end of the day i don't really invest too heavily about the actual persons of these politicians. the fact th
over the fiscal cliff negotiations one thing has become crystal clear. the schisms are becoming more and more pronounce. there are three distinct groups, theological warriors who want to impose their views on the country. tee party zealots and remnant of the pro business moderates while their fiscal views are the last reasonable voice in the republican party. it's this last group who are willing to compromise and combine their ideologies with governing. it is this group bit by bit who are...
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even in the debt ceiling debate or the fiscal cliff negotiations that neither side will give and they're both being unreasonable. and really not drilling down. the other thing they do is they really go back to newt gingrich and grover norquist. as you've talked about both these things, changing the culture of washington and making compromise impossible. >> here's something really naughty, i think in terms of policy. who can forget back in august not a million years ago when the romney pollster neil newhouse said the following. we're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers. think about that. fact checkers meaning facts. >> right. >> i was on the show with you the other night. we talked about the quotes of the year. 47%. >> that's a good one. >> i thought this should be the top two of three. that showed their view towards reality. it was an arrogance that we can say whatever we want to say. and i think in years past, this is what's changed. campaigns would not be so brazen. if caught in a lie they maybe feel some shame. here's neil newhouse telling reporters that we don'
even in the debt ceiling debate or the fiscal cliff negotiations that neither side will give and they're both being unreasonable. and really not drilling down. the other thing they do is they really go back to newt gingrich and grover norquist. as you've talked about both these things, changing the culture of washington and making compromise impossible. >> here's something really naughty, i think in terms of policy. who can forget back in august not a million years ago when the romney...
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we're now in the middle of negotiations over the fiscal cliff. one element of this is are republicans going to be in this position, once again, to take the debt ceiling and the good faith and credit the u.s. hostage? president obama says we can't be in that position, again. and you are described, you, the press says, well, he said, listen. this is extraordinary. you ought to be talking about the damage caused by -- >> there's no doubt on this debt ceiling issue. look, this is part of the negotiations, this is in the middle of the, sort of the three tiered. they have a better chance of agreeing on taxes and entitlements than the debt ceiling. boehner who himself may agree, if we can't have this fight again because the business community will absolutely go crazy about it. he's got to bring back a political tool or some piece of victory. >> i would say, chuck, actually, the reporting now is better than it was a year ago. and some of what's happened is i think reporters have come to realize and many even republicans around that it's a party that went
we're now in the middle of negotiations over the fiscal cliff. one element of this is are republicans going to be in this position, once again, to take the debt ceiling and the good faith and credit the u.s. hostage? president obama says we can't be in that position, again. and you are described, you, the press says, well, he said, listen. this is extraordinary. you ought to be talking about the damage caused by -- >> there's no doubt on this debt ceiling issue. look, this is part of the...
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our next guest explains how the presidential campaign has undermined the fiscal cliff negotiations. we're back in a moment. of washington about the future of medicare and social security. anncr: but you deserve straight talk about the options on the... table and what they mean for you and your family. ancr: aarp is cutting through all the political spin. because for our 37 million members, only one word counts. get the facts at earnedasay.org. let's keep medicare... and social security strong for generations to come. military families face, we understand. at usaa, we know military life is different. we've been there. that's why every bit of financial advice we offer is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad! dad! [ applause ] ♪ [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings advice. call or visit us online. we're ready to help. >>> welcome back to "morning joe" on this wednesday morning. still a little chilly. no big storms in sight at least this week. i'll explain in a second. first things first. windchills, a little ch
our next guest explains how the presidential campaign has undermined the fiscal cliff negotiations. we're back in a moment. of washington about the future of medicare and social security. anncr: but you deserve straight talk about the options on the... table and what they mean for you and your family. ancr: aarp is cutting through all the political spin. because for our 37 million members, only one word counts. get the facts at earnedasay.org. let's keep medicare... and social security strong...
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cliff negotiations. one expressed dismay today at the climate of secrecy surrounding the talks. listen if you would to senator jay rockefeller of west virginia. >> i get nervous when two people disappear into a white house room and start making a grand alliance and they think, well, we're going to do this to the rich and that to the poor, so we'll make that a trade-off. and like tom harkin says, that is unmoral. you cannot do it. >> so for now, let's just say no budget deal come the first of the year. you know what happens. income taxes go up, and under terms of the debt agreement reached last year, government spending would slow. this is the so-called fiscal cliff. now, it is clear what higher taxes would do. but what about budget cuts? who would that affect? a lot of folks including several million unemployed workers. watch this story with me from cnn's kyung lah. >> reporter: she doesn't call it a fiscal cliff. what she could be facing at year's end is a financial free fall. >> i don't know. i just wi
cliff negotiations. one expressed dismay today at the climate of secrecy surrounding the talks. listen if you would to senator jay rockefeller of west virginia. >> i get nervous when two people disappear into a white house room and start making a grand alliance and they think, well, we're going to do this to the rich and that to the poor, so we'll make that a trade-off. and like tom harkin says, that is unmoral. you cannot do it. >> so for now, let's just say no budget deal come the...
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for an agent, call the number that appears on your screen. >>> so how do you make the fiscal cliff negotiations funny? let's check in to see what some of the late-night comics are saying. >> you know, it's a special time of the year. we've been looking forward to it for months now. everywhere you go you can see the twinkle in little children's eyes because they know in a few short weeks the fiscal cliff is coming to town. ma merry cliff-mas. jim? >> the president is asking for $1.6 trillion. >> entitlement reform. >> discretionary spending. [ applause [ applause ] >> i'm back. what happened? >> they are still trying to reach a resolution in the fiscal cliff talks. it's getting a little heated between president obama and speaker boehner. take a look at what they've been saying to each other. yesterday obama said, quote, if we can get some leadership on the republican side, we can probably solve this in about a week. it's not that tough. boehner then responded saying, quote, i've sent the president our proposal. if he doesn't like our plan, he should come back with a plan of his own. obama respon
for an agent, call the number that appears on your screen. >>> so how do you make the fiscal cliff negotiations funny? let's check in to see what some of the late-night comics are saying. >> you know, it's a special time of the year. we've been looking forward to it for months now. everywhere you go you can see the twinkle in little children's eyes because they know in a few short weeks the fiscal cliff is coming to town. ma merry cliff-mas. jim? >> the president is asking...
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the man with the capitol connection is actually being left out of fiscal cliff negotiations. we're going to ask mike allen next why next in the "politico playbook." for those with visions of doing this... ...this... ...and this, dancing in their heads... ...we have these. home depot gift cards. give the gift of doing, in-store or online. >>> all right. a live look at capitol hill in washington, d.c. dark still at 36 past the hour this morning. with us now, chief white house correspondent for "politico," mike allen here with the "morning playbook." we begin with where in the world is joe biden? mike. >> well, good morning, mika. in the last fiscal disaster negotiations, vice president biden was front and center, having those meetings at blair house up on the hill, working his connections. this year he's taking a much lower-key role partly because the senate is a little bit of a bystander this time. this is very much an obama/speaker boehner/house negotiation but also because the president has a lot more political capital this time. last time the democrats were coming off the 2
the man with the capitol connection is actually being left out of fiscal cliff negotiations. we're going to ask mike allen next why next in the "politico playbook." for those with visions of doing this... ...this... ...and this, dancing in their heads... ...we have these. home depot gift cards. give the gift of doing, in-store or online. >>> all right. a live look at capitol hill in washington, d.c. dark still at 36 past the hour this morning. with us now, chief white house...
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and we begin with the latest on the rapidly approaching fiscal cliff deadline of automatic tax hikes on everybody and what appears to be a stalemate in the negotiations. in his first interview since the election, president obama reiterated his demand that any deal must raise taxes on the highest earner. yesterday obama also appeared to showroom for flexibility on actually relowering those tax rates in the future. >> i don't think that the issue right now has to do with sitting in a room. the issue right now that's relevant is the acknowledgement that if we're going to raise revenues that are sufficient to balance with the very tough cuts that we've already made and the further reforms and entitlements that i'm prepared to make, that we're going to have to see the rates on the top 2% go up. and we're not going to be able to get a deal without it. p what i've suggested is let's essentially put a down payment on taxes. let's let tax rates on the upper income folks go up. and then let's set up a process with a time certain at the end of 2013 or the fall of 2013 where we work on tax refor
and we begin with the latest on the rapidly approaching fiscal cliff deadline of automatic tax hikes on everybody and what appears to be a stalemate in the negotiations. in his first interview since the election, president obama reiterated his demand that any deal must raise taxes on the highest earner. yesterday obama also appeared to showroom for flexibility on actually relowering those tax rates in the future. >> i don't think that the issue right now has to do with sitting in a room....
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. >>> hello, again, just over three weeks away from that fiscal cliff, we just come off a week of press conferences, symbolic votes in senate, but less than an hour of serious negotiating. what will it take to break the stalemate? we'll get into that this morning, with two big roundtables of elected officials and experts. let's begin with the lawmakers. senator tom coburn for the republicans and debbie stabenow for the democrats. and congressman hensarlingg. the president said that for there to be a big deal, tax rates on the wealthy are going to have to go up. if that's his bottom line, can there be a deal? >> again, as the speaker has said, unfortunately what we see out of the president is my way or the highway. one dollar revenue for 2.5 of spending reductions. now, after the election, it's a little bit of bait and switch. now he's asking for $1.6 trillion. and if you look closely, for every one dollar of tax increase there's about 20 cents of spending reductions. >> i'm talking about the rates. if the rates go up, can the republicans in the house accept the tax increase? >> no rep w
. >>> hello, again, just over three weeks away from that fiscal cliff, we just come off a week of press conferences, symbolic votes in senate, but less than an hour of serious negotiating. what will it take to break the stalemate? we'll get into that this morning, with two big roundtables of elected officials and experts. let's begin with the lawmakers. senator tom coburn for the republicans and debbie stabenow for the democrats. and congressman hensarlingg. the president said that for...
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this fiscal cliff thing, the problem with the republicans, larry, is that they have been boxed in by the democrats into a difficult position where the polls confirm that the public in america believe that the reason that president obama is going to win the debate is because, come the fiscal cliff moment, that if he goes over, that they are going to save the backsides of the wealthy 2% of americans. i probably shouldn't but i do. >> speaking as a reagan conservative, i must say i rather agree with you. probably shouldn't. but i do. i think divided government is very difficult. and there's some principles that speaker boehner is fighting for, with which i actually agree. but i think politically, the risk here for the gop, is they've become the party of rich people. and they give up the middle-class to the democrats. and i think you saw some of that in the presidential election. i don't think that's their intent. i think their tax reform intent is quite sound. but the way this is playing out, i think that's a big risk for them. >> they're becoming the party of rich, white, older men, is
this fiscal cliff thing, the problem with the republicans, larry, is that they have been boxed in by the democrats into a difficult position where the polls confirm that the public in america believe that the reason that president obama is going to win the debate is because, come the fiscal cliff moment, that if he goes over, that they are going to save the backsides of the wealthy 2% of americans. i probably shouldn't but i do. >> speaking as a reagan conservative, i must say i rather...
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well, with 25 days to go until the year-end fiscal cliff deadline, president obama and speaker boehner spoke on the phone yesterday for the first time in days. both men agreed not to publicly characterize how the conversation went. but the stalemate in negotiations entered new territory yesterday with treasury secretary tim geithner suggesting the white house is ready to go off the cliff if republicans refuse to raise taxes on the 2%. >> if republicans do not agree to that, is the administration prepared to go over the fiscal cliff? >> oh, absolutely. again, there's no prospect to an agreement that doesn't involve those rates going up on the top 2% of the wealthiest americans -- remember, it's only 2%. the size of the problem in some sense is so large, it can't be solved without rates going up as part of that. again, i think there's broad recognition of that reality now. >> one fallback option republicans are reportedly considering is to accept tax cuts for the middle class, allow rates to go up for the wealthiest, and then start the fight over again during debt limit talks early next
well, with 25 days to go until the year-end fiscal cliff deadline, president obama and speaker boehner spoke on the phone yesterday for the first time in days. both men agreed not to publicly characterize how the conversation went. but the stalemate in negotiations entered new territory yesterday with treasury secretary tim geithner suggesting the white house is ready to go off the cliff if republicans refuse to raise taxes on the 2%. >> if republicans do not agree to that, is the...
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the longer the white house slow walks this discussion, the closer our economy gets to the fiscal cliff and the more american jobs are lacplaced in jeopardy. >> well, they talk and we all listen and then we decide who we appreciate more. it's in the form of a poll who is handling these negotiations better. the latest abc news "washington post" poll says 49% of americans think president obama is doing a better job of all of this, while only 25% say they approve of speaker boehner's efforts. those aren't the numbers you want to see if you're the speaker right now. our senior congressional correspondent dana bash has been working her sources throughout the morning, joining me live now from washington. one of the things i see, dana, that's so frustrating, is we get a lot of rhetoric on television and we hear later about secret conversations. i just wonder how much rhetoric is going on behind closed doors or if they're really getting closer. >> reporter: well, you just mentioned there was a monphone l between the speaker and the president, and by all accounts, it really did not go well. i'm
the longer the white house slow walks this discussion, the closer our economy gets to the fiscal cliff and the more american jobs are lacplaced in jeopardy. >> well, they talk and we all listen and then we decide who we appreciate more. it's in the form of a poll who is handling these negotiations better. the latest abc news "washington post" poll says 49% of americans think president obama is doing a better job of all of this, while only 25% say they approve of speaker...
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and i don't care whether you are negotiating a baseball contract or negotiating a solution to this fiscal cliff. we have got to get an agreement that is balanced, that is fair to both sides and i think at the end of the day, both sides will walk away unhappy. that's what a good negotiation does. i am willing to compromise. but we need someone to compromise with. bottom line is bottom line. math has to add up. the republican proposal is based on old washington equation that two plus two equals whatever you want it to be. that's not how it works. even in washington two plus two has to equal four and we need to get to a resolution that reduces the deficit by about $4 trillion and we can do it in a fair and balanced and bold way. >> congressman israel, thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> thanks, carol. >>> all right. just into cnn, we have confirmed senator jim demint will step down as of december 31st. he's from south carolina. leading member of the tea party. he'll take over the head of the heritage foundation. cnn's dana bash live on capitol hill with more. why did senator de
and i don't care whether you are negotiating a baseball contract or negotiating a solution to this fiscal cliff. we have got to get an agreement that is balanced, that is fair to both sides and i think at the end of the day, both sides will walk away unhappy. that's what a good negotiation does. i am willing to compromise. but we need someone to compromise with. bottom line is bottom line. math has to add up. the republican proposal is based on old washington equation that two plus two equals...
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the effort to reach a deal on the fiscal cliff is now a two-man operation. interesting. president obama and speaker boehner. nobody else. with 24 days before a year-end deadline, "the new york times" says boehner made the request to clear the negotiation room going forward, leaving it up to himself and the president to reach a deal to avoid automatic tax hikes and deep spending cuts. and while the two men may be negotiating privately, yesterday the president took his message to the public, visiting a local virginia family as a part of his my2k social media campaign, sitting around the kitchen table. he told the family he was optimistic. >> the message that i think we all want to send to members of congress is, this is a solvable problem. the senate has already passed a bill that would make sure the middle-class taxes don't go up next year by a single dime. just to be clear, i'm not going to sign any package that somehow prevents the top rate from going up for folks at the top 2%. but i do remain optimistic that we can get something done that is good for families like thi
the effort to reach a deal on the fiscal cliff is now a two-man operation. interesting. president obama and speaker boehner. nobody else. with 24 days before a year-end deadline, "the new york times" says boehner made the request to clear the negotiation room going forward, leaving it up to himself and the president to reach a deal to avoid automatic tax hikes and deep spending cuts. and while the two men may be negotiating privately, yesterday the president took his message to the...
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you have the fiscal cliff, and you have all kinds of gridlock in washington. what do you make of what you see? >> it is very strange. i mean, it could be that somebody should sit down and rewrite the way america runs things, because, you know, while america did this, china moves forward rapidly. other countries are more decisive move forward rapidly. so i think on the fiscal cliff it will get sorted. it would be nice if there could be a bit more decisive leadership. if you run a company, you don't have this -- this horrible problem where you can't make decisions. you can get on and say if i want to get into space, i'll go into space. let's get on and invest in it. if i want to go down to the bottom of the oceans, let's build a submarine that goes to the bottom of oceans. it's a lot easier than running a country. >> do you blame any particular side? is it all the same to you? >> look, i think i'm slightly biased one way more than the other, but i'm not going to push out 50% of the people watching your program right now. all right. i think that as far as things
you have the fiscal cliff, and you have all kinds of gridlock in washington. what do you make of what you see? >> it is very strange. i mean, it could be that somebody should sit down and rewrite the way america runs things, because, you know, while america did this, china moves forward rapidly. other countries are more decisive move forward rapidly. so i think on the fiscal cliff it will get sorted. it would be nice if there could be a bit more decisive leadership. if you run a company,...
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i think the president wants to take us over the fiscal cliff. >> you will vote for speaker boehner? >> i don't see any reason not to at this point. >> congressman paul brown, thank you so much. appreciate it. >> thanks, brooke. god bless you. >> thank you. until recently blockbuster movies have been created in hollywood, but the industry is taking on a more southern style and moving away from tinseltown. we will take a look at why. >> per atlanta, georgia. there is reason to believe it is looking that way. georgia made 3.1 billion in and film production this year alone. some of your favorite shows shot in 50 georgia counties. big question. why georgia? we went to a set here in atlanta to find out. >> when it kim to this movie, john travolta and robert deniro, they had a choice to make and hollywood was not the 0. >> they found a deep and experienced crew base and had to bring very, very few people to the atlanta area to built our crew. >> they were not the first to pack up and head east. a recent study shows that los angeles county lost more than 16,100 movie-related shobs between 2
i think the president wants to take us over the fiscal cliff. >> you will vote for speaker boehner? >> i don't see any reason not to at this point. >> congressman paul brown, thank you so much. appreciate it. >> thanks, brooke. god bless you. >> thank you. until recently blockbuster movies have been created in hollywood, but the industry is taking on a more southern style and moving away from tinseltown. we will take a look at why. >> per atlanta, georgia....
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cliff which would mean tax hikes for almost all americans but also severe cuts as well. they are debating that publicly as well as privately. i want to talk more about the rebel group that we had mention before in syria, that is now designated a new terrorist organization, cnn's hala gorani joining us atlanta. hala, first of all, you've got the syrian rebels, they're there fighting al assad's government. now the u.s. government, state department, steps in and says, a small faction of this group is considered a terrorist organization. what does that mean on the ground in syria for the rebel forces? >> well, it's hard to tell if it's going to mean anything, really. because what we're hearing now, uniformly from rebel groups on the ground after the designation by the united states of the nusra front as a foreign terrorist organization, look you can't not arm us, not finance us, and at the same time tell us not to rely on the best sort of armed and financed subgroup in the anti-assad fight. so rebel groups are saying you're putting us in a difficult position. they're having
cliff which would mean tax hikes for almost all americans but also severe cuts as well. they are debating that publicly as well as privately. i want to talk more about the rebel group that we had mention before in syria, that is now designated a new terrorist organization, cnn's hala gorani joining us atlanta. hala, first of all, you've got the syrian rebels, they're there fighting al assad's government. now the u.s. government, state department, steps in and says, a small faction of this group...
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keep in mind they're the ones trying to do the deal here to avert this fiscal cliff. the tax hikes, the spending cutting scheduled for the first of the week now. join ming me from washington is senator olympia snowe. are you hearing -- what might you be hearing between the president and spirit? >> i think it is optimistic in the sense that at least they have met once again because i think that that is going to be crucial and central to any resolution, to the fiscal cliff crisis. and the more they meet and more that they have these lines of communications opened on a daily basis and their staffs are meeting, the more likely we'll see a conclusion to this issue. but it is regrettable that it is this late in the day, given the uncertainty and the apprehension that it continues to create among the american people, and, of course, both within the markets here and abroad. but i think it is hopeful that they have begun to meet and have some discussions because i think we can breathe a sigh of relief that the lines of communication are open. >> are you breathing that sigh of
keep in mind they're the ones trying to do the deal here to avert this fiscal cliff. the tax hikes, the spending cutting scheduled for the first of the week now. join ming me from washington is senator olympia snowe. are you hearing -- what might you be hearing between the president and spirit? >> i think it is optimistic in the sense that at least they have met once again because i think that that is going to be crucial and central to any resolution, to the fiscal cliff crisis. and the...
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cliff talk. what surprised us off the record behind the scenes, democrats and republicans agree they should be doing a lot more than they're talking about as part of the current negotiations. they said if you did more on tax reform and particularly on the corporate side and more on social security as far as limiting the growth of that program, more on medicare, if you did something to exploit this oil and gas boom that we're seeing in north dakota, texas and across the country, if you did more to get high skilled immigrants into town, you could not only have an economic recovery but an economic boom. there's a lot of agreement off the record on this, but that politicians on both sides are scared to go out there and be the first to say, hey, let's do these big things that could have an appreciable effect on the economy. >> steve, do you agree with that assessment? what are the big things that need to be done? >> i totally agree. the thing that's depressing about the fiscal cliff plan, we will chan
cliff talk. what surprised us off the record behind the scenes, democrats and republicans agree they should be doing a lot more than they're talking about as part of the current negotiations. they said if you did more on tax reform and particularly on the corporate side and more on social security as far as limiting the growth of that program, more on medicare, if you did something to exploit this oil and gas boom that we're seeing in north dakota, texas and across the country, if you did more...